Help Getting Backups To Play On My PC Engine Duo-R

Post by **VicDeakins** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 4:37 pm

Hi guys, I could use some help. I've recently amassed a pretty sweet collection of PC Engine CD games for my RGB/region modded Duo-R. I wanted to have backup discs as I do with my other CD systems like Sega CD, Neo-Geo CD, 3DO, etc. However for some reason I cant get any of the CDs I burn to work on my Duo. I'm using IMGBurn as I always do with my other systems. I downloaded verified clean ISOs, but the system never will boot up any of the games.

Any suggestions? Again, this works perfectly on every other system I have, so I'm not sure what I'm missing here.

Post by **Ziggy** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 11:57 am

I've never owned the hardware, but here's some generic tips. Did you try more than one brand of CD-Rs? Sometimes certain brands just don't play nice with certain hardware. Also, set the burning speed to the slowest possible if you haven't already.

When you say "verified clean," do you mean you verified them yourself or just that you got them from a trust worthy source?

PS, I love your avatar!

Post by **marurun** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:54 pm

If you can, get your hands on 650 MB CDRs. They are pretty hard to find, but the Duo was out long before 700 MB CDs were, and that extra read area can sometimes be trouble for the laser motor mechanism. Burn using the slowest speed possible on your burner, 4x max if possible. Also, make sure you have good quality discs so they are easier to read. It's possible you have a weak laser in your unit. Has your system been re-capped? What's the condition of the internals, including the laser diode and the drive motor? All original, or have they been replaced? Test the resulting burned disc in an emulator as well to make sure the burn software didn't mangle the image format a bit. PCE games technically don't adhere to the Redbook standard. I've had good luck with the freeware IMGBurn software.

Post by **VicDeakins** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:18 pm

marurun wrote:If you can, get your hands on 650 MB CDRs. They are pretty hard to find, but the Duo was out long before 700 MB CDs were, and that extra read area can sometimes be trouble for the laser motor mechanism. Burn using the slowest speed possible on your burner, 4x max if possible. Also, make sure you have good quality discs so they are easier to read. It's possible you have a weak laser in your unit. Has your system been re-capped? What's the condition of the internals, including the laser diode and the drive motor? All original, or have they been replaced? Test the resulting burned disc in an emulator as well to make sure the burn software didn't mangle the image format a bit. PCE games technically don't adhere to the Redbook standard. I've had good luck with the freeware IMGBurn software.

Yeah I was using 700 MB and unfortunately the slowest speed my burner allows is 16X. Perhaps I should look into a different CD burner

The Duo-R itself is in beautiful condition and all real discs work perfectly, and do work with the emulator so I know its not the ISO.

Post by **Ziggy** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:35 pm

Burning speed is determined by the disc as well as the burner. What brand discs are you using right now?

Post by **VicDeakins** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:56 pm

Ziggy587 wrote:Burning speed is determined by the disc as well as the burner. What brand discs are you using right now?

I'm using Maxell 700MB CDRs. With my combo Blu-Ray/DVD/CD-R drive, the only speeds it supports are 16x, 24x, 36x, and 48x.

Post by **marurun** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:19 pm

Yeah, with a system that old, it may be your current burner and disc selection is not going to be a good match. I'm sure the discs you're making might work in some units, but it's going to be a crapshoot.

Post by **VicDeakins** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:33 pm

marurun wrote:Yeah, with a system that old, it may be your current burner and disc selection is not going to be a good match. I'm sure the discs you're making might work in some units, but it's going to be a crapshoot.

Thats a bummer. I cant imagine finding an old 2X/4X burner that will work with a modern PC. Maybe this wasnt meant to be

its fine as I intend to buy legit copies of all the games, I already have about 30 of them, but I was hoping to get to sample some of the first. I guess I could use the emulator for now.

Post by **Ziggy** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 8:06 pm

VicDeakins wrote:I cant imagine finding an old 2X/4X burner that will work with a modern PC.

For reference, I have a Asus DRW-24B1ST (the slightly newer DRW-24F1ST is available on Amazon) SATA drive in my computer, and Verbatim CD-R 97458 (also available on Amazon), and I can burn at 4x.

I could be wrong, but I think it might have more to do with the disc than the drive. I believe the disc tells the drive what burning speeds it can tolerate.

I would give the Verbatims a try and see what happens. Trying a different brand might be all you need anyway, and Verbatims are usually top notch quality, and you should be able to burn at 4x with them.

Post by **stickem** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 8:15 pm

I know it's not a duo but I've burned a few sega cd games the past few days at 16x on cheap ass memorex without issue. I've used verbatim back in the 360 days with fewer bad burns, but that was few and far between. I'm in the camp that says write speed and media has little effect. But that's just my experience and I used to pirate my ass off lol

Help Getting Backups To Play On My PC Engine Duo-R

Help Getting Backups To Play On My PC Engine Duo-R

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